Somewhere Over the Rainbow
by xfreelifex
Summary: Think of the episode On the Beach, ER season 8. Oneshot, songfic.


**A/N:** I own nothing.

**A/N:** Okay, this was a completely unplanned oneshot that I found myself itching to write after having felt homesick for Hawaii and listening to the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that was featured in the episode On the Beach. I hope you enjoy it! It will be a oneshot.

Song: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Artist: Israel Kamakawiwoole

The waves of the tranquil ocean crashed against the shores of the island of Hawaii. The intoxicating scents of the island flowers – hibiscus, plumeria, birds of paradise - filled the strong winds that carried them. In a beach house along the sandy shore, lay a man – a doctor - with his family.

_Ooo ooo ooo  
Ooo ooo ooo_

Dr. Mark Greene lay on the bed, feeling the warm air flow through the window. His wife and daughters were there with him, but for now, Mark was alone. His body was riddled with the cancer – the brain tumor. After living over a year longer than the fist doctor had predicted, Mark had proven himself a medial miracle….about to expire.

He lay without moving, his eyes closed, pondering his life. His practice – medicine, his fellow doctors and nurses in the hospital in Chicago. Elizabeth had hoped he would return to see them again, but perhaps Mark had always known that would not be possible. The tumor was inoperable, his time limited. Machines and medicine could only do so much.

Someone was coming up the stairs in the house. His teenage daughter, Rachel, entered the room holding a CD player tentatively in her hands. Mark opened his eyes in an effort to see his eldest daughter again. He smiled at the sight of her, though he could only keep his eye open for a short moment.

"Hi," he said softly to her.

"Hi," she responded back.

Mark struggled to keep his eye open. "I was just dreaming about you."

Rachel gave him a skeptical, though slightly surprised look. "You were?"

Mark nodded. "The way you used to love balloons. Remember how much you loved balloons?"

"No," said Rachel.

Mark sighed softly. "I used to buy them for you, and right when I handed them to you, you let 'em go. It drove your mother crazy." He paused, savoring the memory. "Sit with me." Rachel hesitated. "Sit." Rachel cautiously sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her father sadly. "I was trying to figure out what I should have already told you, but I never have. Something important. Something every father should impart to his daughter." His words were coming slower now, his phrases more intermittent. "I finally got it. Generosity. Be generous. With your time...with your love...with your life.

"Okay," Rachel said softly.

Mark closed his eyes again. "I'm sorry Rachel," he muttered, "I'm just so tired."

"It's okay," she said quietly.

There was a long pause. "Don't cry for me."

Rachel gazed at her dying father and then whispered, "I won't."

Mark nodded. "Be generous…always."

"I will," Rachel nodded. Then she cautiously showed him the CD player she had brought. "Daddy…I remember the lullaby. I remember you used to sing it to me every night. .I remember." She placed the headphones on his ears. Mark smiled at the familiar melody of the childhood song.

_Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,_

_And the dreams that you dreamed of,_

_Once in a lullaby_

Rachel left the room quietly, leaving her father smiling at the memory. The Hawaiian breezes filled the air, bringing the memories back to him. He used to come to this tropical paradise with his father. He learned how to surf here…and then he taught Rachel. It was probably the last thing he would teach her…

Mark felt frustrated by the lack of time. There were so many things he still wanted to do. He would never see Ella's first steps, hear her first words, kiss her first cut…she was so young, and his time was so limited. And then there was Rachel. He had wanted to fix her, fix her like he told Elizabeth he wanted to. Rid her of her drug problem, teach her some sense, and show her how the world really worked. Now he would have to settle for the surfing.

_Someday I'll wish upon a star, _

_Wake up where the clouds are far behind me._

_When trouble melts like lemon drops,_

_High above the chimney top,_

_That's where you'll find me._

He sighed deeply. Not only was he leaving behind his family, but his _other_ family. The one that worked in County General…the closest group of people he had ever been with. Their dedication and talent he would always admire. An "ER Gang" he had called them affectionately. They were the people who had stood by him unconditionally. The ER was his home. He could see it in his mind now; just picture what the other doctors and nurses were doing.

Jerry and Frank would be at the desk as usual, taking the calls, paging the doctors. Perhaps a trauma would've rolled in and the attendings and students and nurses would be working to save someone's life. Carter would probably be trying to find his place in the midst of it all…

Carter! Carter was the son Mark had taken under his wing. The boy he had made into a man. Mark could still recall when Carter was only a medical student. How he had wanted to become a surgeon, but somehow fell in love with the chaos that was the level one trauma center. _You set the tome, Carter_ he had said to him in the ambulance bay. Perhaps the most legendary line of passage in the ER. Dr. Anspaugh had said it to Mark himself when he had been in Carter's position. Unless Mark was very much mistaken, Carter would be a rising star.

The thought of the ER was bringing tears to Mark's eyes. He had lived his life there and lived his life for the place. For the job, for the patients. The memories would never leave him, nor would his mark that he left on the hospital. His legacy of practice, of compassion, of leadership…but like he had written in the letter, he knew the amazing group of people he worked with would manage to continue their work.

_Oh, somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly,_

_And the dreams that you dare to._

_Oh why, oh why can't I?_

He could hear Elizabeth and Ella playing in the sand. Ella was squealing with delight and Elizabeth was laughing at her daughter's innocence. Mark closed his eyes, savoring the moment. He knew the cancer had won in the end, but now he was ready. He had gotten married, seen his baby daughter, defied every medical prognosis…except this one. It seemed that his time had come. But Mark, as he drifted off to sleep, felt a smile creep on his face as he knew his life would go on.

_Someday I'll wish upon a star,_

_Wake up where the clouds are far behind me._

_When trouble melts like lemon drop,_

_High above the chimney top._

_That's where you'll find me._

The gentle breeze continued to blow through the palm trees, rustling their thick leaves and descending throughout the island. It carried with it the songs of the island and of life itself, lifting the troubles from the shoulders of the burdened. For Mark Greene, it meant taking with it the spirit from a broken body, freeing it so that it could soar over the ocean and surf in the waves once more. Letting the spirit come down to gaze once more upon the life it once had before sending it far beyond the clouds and into the horizon.

_Oh, somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high.  
And the dreams that you dare to,  
Oh why, oh why can't I? _

Ooooo oooooo oooooo  
Ooooo oooooo oooooo  
Ooo ah, ah, ah... eh ah ah, eh ah ah ah ah...

"_Mark died this morning at 6:04 A.M. The sun was rising, his favorite time of day. I sent this the letter on so that you might know that he was thinking of you all and that he appreciated knowing you would remember him well."_

**A/N:** Well, hope you liked it. I'd love to hear your comments. Thanks for reading - review! Oh, and for those of you reading my chapter fic, All Will be Well, I will be updating soon, do not fear.


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